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Three questions: 1. What kind of water do you use in your wine? Is it OK, flavor-wise, to use distilled water? I have access to spring water and reverse osmosis filtered water as well. 2. What kind of water do you "top up" with? Distilled? 3. Is it OK to use Oxy Clean to wash primary...

Anybody tried the "Orchard Breezin" wine kits? How is the quality? I'm currently making a batch of Blackberry Merlot. I paid $60 for it, and I probably overpaid. What prices are yall paying for these kits? Thanks, Chopper

I have a Black Raspberry Merlot kit ready to bottle. I made it exactly by the directions (6.5% ABV). Now, my wife wishes I had added sugar to make the ABV 10%. Can I add vodka "to taste" and still retain the flavor of the kit? Thanks, Chopper

My strawberry and blueberry wines have fermented to dryness, and I've added sorbate to each, and a homemade F-pack to each. How many more times should I rack before bottling? And how much time should I allow between the rackings? I'd prefer to let it clear on its own, instead of adding...

Anybody ever made strawberry wine from steam-juiced strawberries? If so, how did it turn out? I've made blueberry wine from steam-juiced blueberries, and it turned out great. I was wondering if strawberries take well to steam-juicing as well. Thanks, Chopper

I have a one-gal batch of (frozen) strawberry wine that I made according to Jack Keller's recipe. The starting SG was 1.080. This past weekend, I added an F-pack (concentrated strawberry juice from frozen strawberries). It turned out GREAT. I'm very pleased. I'm now gonna start a 3-gal batch...

I have a one gallon batch of Frozen Strawberry Wine (Jack Keller's recipe) ready for an F-pack addition. It will be my first, and I need some help preparing it. I have a 6 lb bag of the same delicious frozen strawberries I used in the must. And I like sweet wines, but of course I want to add...

For my “from scratch” fruit wines, I’d like to follow a general plan. After a lot of reading and asking questions, I’ve come up with the following. Please let me know if there are any flaws, or if I’ve allowed too much time for any stage. <?:namespace prefix = o ns =...

This past Sunday, I pitched the yeast on a 3-gallon batch of Vintner's Harvest Black Currant. I exactly followed the 3-gallon recipe, except my starting SG was 1.080. Per the directions, I used 3 crushed campden tablets. Equipment cleanliness and sanitation were done by the book. Tonight, the...

I like making kit wines as well as wines from scratch. So far, I've made 2 batches of Island Mist Blackberry Cabernet, and 1 batch of Island Mist Black Raspberry Merlot. I loved both. I'd like to try a high-end kit, but have no idea what to try. I like full-bodied red wines with 11-13% alcohol...

When you use K-Meta to sanitize stuff (primary, carboy, hydrometer, etc) do you rinse? I was under the impression that rinsing was not necessary, and might even "de-sanitize". But Island Mist kit directions say to thoroughly rinse after sanitizing with sulfite. What gives?

Someone (Luc I think) said on a forum a while back that he stores his carboys with K-Meta inside (appx 20% full), and puts a solid bung in to keep the gases inside. Or maybe he air-locked it. Anyway, does anybody else here do this? Do the gases inside keep the whole carboy sanitized? Thanks...

I'm starting a kit wine (Island Mist Blackberry Merlot). I'm adding sugar to boost the SG to 1.080 (10-11% alcohol). When I make wine from fruit, I stir the primary must daily (after fermentation starts). But the kit directions don't mention this. So should I stir, or not? And since I'm...

How many 750ml bottles do you drink per week? If you drink different size bottles, do your best to convert to 750ml equivalent.

Does anybody ever puree their fruit before making wine out of it? Or do you just crush it by hand and let the pectic enzyme and yeast do the rest? The reason I'm asking is because I'm about to buy an immersion blender to use for mixing ingredients in the primary. And there is an optional...

Does Oxy Clean need to be rinsed? Or is it a no-rinse cleaner like One Step? Thanks, Chopper

How many tablespoons of K-meta should I add to a gallon of water to make a sanitizing solution?

I plan to start some wine from Vintner's Harvest fruit bases very soon. I have a can of Black Currant, and a can of Cherry. I am also thinking of trying Elderberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, Blueberry, and Cranberry. Please tell me about your experiences with Vintner's Harvest. What have you...

How many of you initially mix your primary ingredients with a drill-mounted stirrer? Since I will be dissolving my sugar in hot water very well before adding it to the primary, shouldn't I be able to use a simple ladle to mix everything well enough in the primary?

What kind of drill should I buy for using my new Fizz-X stirrer? I will probably get a cordless drill, but I need to know the recommended power and any other features I need to look for. For example, someone in another forum said not to get a really powerful drill, since it would whip too...